


Energon is Thicker

by VicenteValtieri



Series: Starscream's Sparklings [3]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Adventure, Babies, M/M, Pregnancy, Sparklings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-10-22 07:08:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 22
Words: 9,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10692213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VicenteValtieri/pseuds/VicenteValtieri
Summary: The War is over! Optimus Prime and Starscream are finally at peace with their sparklings, both step and natural, and the galaxy rejoices in its slumber.But there are always complications.Orion and Optimus's relationship is... strained to say the least and it is causing a lot of stress for the rest of the family. It seems a blessing from Primus when Starscream's aeriemate, Pharma, sends a message asking Starscream to come and visit him at his clinic on Messatine. Leaving his oldest sparkling and his mate to bond, Starscream takes his younger bitlets and goes to visit his cousin. But is there more to the situation than meets the eye?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, guys, hear me out. I know the votes on this site say the romantic prequel, but the votes from my cousins say the adventure. I love you guys and my cousins are douches, except Camilla, but I have to humor them because they're relatives.
> 
> So, to take care of all of you, I came up with a brilliant idea: I'm going to write them both at once. 
> 
> That's right. I've officially taken leave of my senses and I am going to write both stories at once. Hold onto your hats, folks. This is gonna be a bumpy ride.

Optimus woke slowly to warm ex-vents on his aeilerons. Smiling to himself, he opened his optics to find Starscream laying on his chassis, wings flicking idly as he fluxed.

The convoy mech gently stroked one razor wing, feeling it sing beneath his digits. Starscream idly fluttered it, muttering in content and pressing closer to the touch. 

The flyer had been sleeping in this position ever since Jolt and Joule were born. Optimus loved to wake up and feel the Seeker over him like a second covering. Starscream often shrugged and hummed when Optimus commented on it, but the convoy knew he was pleased.

He leaned back into the pillows and closed his optics. It had been almost seven vorns since the war ended. Jolt and Joule were rambunctious little Seekers. Bellatrix had fully matured and attended university. Orion... Orion was still difficult. It hurt Optimus a great deal that his son still held a deep-seated hatred for him in his spark. Rigel and Regulus were sweet children, just waiting to bloom into maturity. 

It was Optimus's day off and their apartment was quiet. It seemed that Jolt and Joule weren't awake yet. Perhaps they could all get another cycle of recharge before breakfast.

Optimus really shouldn't think things like that.

Jolt and Joule sped into the room and jumped up onto the bed. "Carrier! Creator! Get up! Get up! Get up!" 

Optimus sighed as Starscream stirred and raised his helm. "Morning already, bitlets?" Starscream sat up, stretching.

"It's morning, Carrier!" Jolt grabbed onto Starscream's servo and yanked. "Get up!"

"It's Friday! Tomorrow is the tournament! We have to make snacks! Get up, get up, get up!" Joule chanted. 

"All right, Bitlets. Let me just greet your Creator for the morning." Starscream leaned over to Optimus and puckered up.

The twin Seekers made exaggerated noises of disgust and raced away. Starscream sighed in relief and laid back down over Optimus. "Primus spare me over-zealous Sparklings."

Optimus kissed Starscream's helm. "They're adorable."

"They are, but they're also annoying." Starscream snuggled his mate and kissed him on the lipplates. "Well, we'd better get up, or they'll be back."

Optimus sighed and sat up.


	2. Domestic Harmony

Rigel and Regulus were already up when Starscream and Optimus came out of the berthroom. They were sitting in the living room, watching human cartoons. 

Starscream came up behind his two bitlets and dropped a kiss on each of their helms. "Good morning, Regulus. Good morning, my little Spark-Attack."

Rigel wiggled around to hug his Carrier while Regulus squirmed. "Carrier, no kisses!"

"Yes, kisses!" Starscream was unafraid to get into this argument with the young tank mech. Pressing an exageratedly loud kiss to his son's helm, he smiled as Regulus groaned and rubbed the spot.

Rigel got up from the couch now that his Creators were up and followed Starscream into the kitchen. "Can we have Chocolate Dacquoise for breakfast?"

"No, not again. That was a mistake on your Creator's part." Starscream shot Optimus an amused look. 

"They asked for it!" Optimus protested as he picked Rigel up and gave him a toss into the air, catching him in a hug that nearly swallowed the tiny triple changer.

"Sparklings ask for a lot of things, Optimus. That doesn't mean you give it to them." Starscream shook a finger at his conjux and began pouring several cubes of energon, placing them on the heater with care.

"Hmph." Optimus sighed and nuzzled Rigel. "It wasn't a bad breakfast."

Rigel giggled and wiggled to be let down. He rushed to set the table.

Starscream was constantly amused by human ingenuity. The tiny creatures had figured out that some Cybertronians had a fascination with their food and methods of eating. They had soon produced Cybertronian versions of most human foods and Rigel and Regulus were absolutely charmed by breakfast cereals.

Sometimes, Starscream was appalled by how expensive the packaged and produced foods were. As a result, they became a treat and he generally served liquid energon or energon delicacies that he had made himself. Years of living on the edge had made him more than a little bit sensitive about shanix.

Optimus helped Rigel set the table and then settled in with his datapad, scrolling through notifications. Starscream pulled the energon cubes out of the heater and called. "Breakfast!"

Jolt and Joule raced in like little darts and climbed up into their raised chairs. Regulus sauntered in afterwards. Bellatrix and Orion were away at university, though the holiday was swiftly approaching. Soon, Starscream hoped to have all of his family back around the table.


	3. A Morning Together

Optimus took a weekend off in the human custom, with two extra days. It was a long weekend, so to speak, because of the bitlet's tournaments. Rigel, Regulus, and Bellatrix were all heavily involved in sports. After living so many adventures for so long, physical exertion was, sometimes, the only way to keep them occupied.

Bellatrix in particular had a busy mind and busier servos and pedes. Optimus had found out about her "acquisitions" quickly. Though he was often the gentler, more pliable parent, he cracked down hard on her light-fingered ways and they had many battles over the subject together. Things turned nasty when Starscream was involved. Optimus had found that Starscream was quite good at being blind to obvious things. Perhaps vorns under Megatron had given him practice. Anyway, the Seeker had had a break down, screamed his helm off at his young Seeker about ruining things for all of them, and then fell into a fever on the scale of a spark attack. 

It hadn't been a fun time for any of them.

Optimus remembered praying to Primus that he wouldn't take his mate, so newly won, from the world. He had gathered the offline Seeker up in his arms and run through Autobot City without stopping to call the hospital. Rigel had called Ratchet and told him what had happened. The smart little triple-changer.

The whole episode had opened Starscream's optics to how easily his sparklings had been duping and manipulating him over the vorns. He had become a rather strict Carrier after that, keeping his optics open and his mind wide as well. Perhaps that was why Optimus was such a mellow parent. Starscream did the hard tasks. 

But the episode, the attack, had opened them all to a new nightmare. 

Optimus shook it from his processor. They were having a happy day. There was no need to think on the future and whatever challenges it might hold.

What had he been thinking about?

Oh, yes. After Starscream's episode, Bellatrix had made an effort to shape up and joined a martial arts club to hone the skills her Carrier had taught her as well as enrolled in piano classes. Though she had given the instrument up, she had inspired her Carrier to an appreciation of human arts, in what little spare time the older Seeker had. Now, she was a reigning champion in several disciplines. Optimus was more than impressed.

Rigel and Regulus were still young, but they were growing and they loved the speed and tumble of soccer. It was their tournament that weekend, semi-finals on Saturday and finals on Sunday. A weekend of sports for young mechs. 

Optimus was proud of all of them.


	4. This Machine

Starscream cut shapes out of the light-grade energon he had jelled. Beside him, Jolt and Joule were happily eating the scraps. This particular human invention was simple to replicate for the Cybertronians living on Earth with them. Jello Jigglers, he believed was their name.

"Make a bell next." Joule handed him the cutter. 

Starscream accepted the small creation and printed out several bells in a row. "There we are. Pretty bells, aren't they."

Jolt nodded gravely. "Pretty bells." He pushed the shallow plastic container forwards and Starscream carefully placed the bells into it. The last bell neatly filled the layered container and Joule reached for another level, pressing it onto the top. 

Starscream smiled fondly and kissed his tots on their helms. "Good job, bitlets."

Joule giggled and picked up a tulip-shaped cuter. "Tulips!"

Joule had been introduced to flowers through a human nature program and was fascinated with them. Starscream was under the impression that he wanted to eat them, just because they were so colorful. 

He had to admit, introducing the bitlets to the actual flowers, when they were older and could understand they weren't food, might be entertaining. Regulus and Rigel had been introduced to organic flowers when they were very young and, in typical sparkling fashion, had squished them flat. 

Starscream smiled to himself. Memories.

There was a clang and a series of crashes behind them. "Primus!" Optimus nearly swore as the Dacquoise pans fell on his helm.

Starscream turned around and folded his arms. "What did you do now?"

"I was trying to get the flat sheets." Optimus rubbed his helm as he regarded the mess all around him. "I got them!"

"And the rest of my pans." Starscream smirked and rolled his eyes. "Pick them up and put them back, you ground-pounding lug."

Optimus gathered up the pans and set them on the counter, sorting the flat sheets and laying them out. "There we are."

"Now actually get a step-stool and put the rest back properly." Starscream shot him a scolding look. Optimus hunched his shoulder and made an exaggeratedly put-upon face. It made Starscream smile.

Jolt and Joule glanced at each other and rolled their optics. Their Creators were so in love, it was sickening.


	5. Starscream's Cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kudos if you know what the title is referencing.

Starscream loved to make oil cookies. Though he hadn't been introduced to the treats until after he and Optimus had bonded, they had become his favorite. 

The sparklings loved them as well, especially the cookie-cutter cookies with energon icing on top. Of course, these were also the messiest and most finicky. Such was the nature of a sparkling's love. 

Starscream looked up from the bright purple icing to check what the bitlets were doing with the rolled out cookie dough.

Jolt was eating more cookie dough than he was cutting and Starscream chuckled, taking his bitlet about the waist. "We can't eat all the cookie dough, Jolt. There'd be none left for our friends."

Jolt wiggled. "Make more!"

"That and you'll get a tank ache if you eat too much." Starscream set his son on the floor and looked over Joule's efforts. His second sparkling wasn't eating the dough, but all of his cut-outs overlapped each other. The Seeker sighed and corrected his sparkling again, hoping to get some usable cookies out of it, for the sake of self-esteem if nothing else.

Jolt grabbed onto his Carrier's leg strut and locked himself around it like a gold manacle. "Go for a flight?"

"Not now, Jolt. Maybe in the afternoon, if we're finished here." Starscream got a wicked idea and looked over at Joule. "But your Creator should be available to take you both on a drive. Why don't you ask him?"

He swore his sparklings never actually moved, but pulled a Skywarp and teleported.

Chuckling, he scraped up the dough and began rolling it again, keeping an optic on the icing.


	6. Homebody

In the afternoon, Starscream finally emerged from his kitchen to find Optimus and the bitlets playing with a garden hose outside. He was sure it had begun as an attempt to get Jolt and Joule clean enough to come into their home, but it had certainly devolved into a battle. Somehow, Jolt had gained control of the garden hose and Optimus was wrestling it away from the little Seekerlet.

Starscream shook his helm and sighed. They didn't have a yard, not as the humans defined it at least: Autobot City didn't have dirt and grass; it was an orbiting Cybertron, basically, but the hose was supposed to be for cleaning off the walkways and the play area in front of their house. Well, it was being cleaned, though half-hazardly. 

Joule tugged on the hose from below suddenly and it whipped towards the house and Starscream.

Optimus and Jolt froze as Starscream yelped and threw shut the front door before the spray hit his wings, chilling them and soaking him from head to toe. The Prime scrambled to regain control of the hose and shut it off.

"Are you all right?" He questioned his bonded as the Seeker shivered.

"I'm fine." Starscream fluttered his wings, spraying all three with water. "If you're all done playing with the hose, I'll bring out some towels and you can come inside for some iced oil cookies."

Jolt and Joule looked up at Optimus. They were still very dusty. 

"Come on, bitlets. If you stand still, this will all be over in a moment." Optimus picked up the hose again. 

Jolt and Joule sighed and looked up at their Carrier with pleading optics. Starscream folded his arms and fixed them with the "Carrier Look."

They stood still and let their Creator hit them with the hose, the earth's dust washing away before it could get into their delicate gears. 

As soon as the water turned off, they fluttered their wings, and sprayed Optimus right back. The convoy accepted the towels that Starscream offered. "Thank you, Starscream." He dried their bitlets off and then dried himself.

Starscream smiled at his bonded and looked down at their sparklings. Jolt and Joule had their servos folded and had cycled their optics as wide and bright as they could. "Do you want something, darlings?"

"May we come back inside?" They chorused.

"What's the magic word?" Starscream replied.

"Please!"

Starscream stepped out of the way and they shot in. "Don't touch the cookies until I get there!"

"We won't!" They replied.

Optimus stepped up behind Starscream and ran the towel over his wings. "What would we do without them?"

"There would be no 'we' without them." Starscream replied, leaning back into the Prime. "There would be you and me and never would the twain have met."

"Are you sure?" Optimus steered Starscream into the privacy of their house before nuzzling the Seeker's helm. "Before I knew about Orion, I wanted you for my mate."

"I don't know, Optimus. Sometimes, I wonder what would have happened. There were a lot of choices in our lives. What would have happened if I had left Orion with Desiree? Or you had come with us after Disney Galaxy?" Starscream turned around, embracing his mate. "I just don't know. Sometimes, my past choices bother me."

"Don't let them. Past is past." Optimus comforted the Seeker. 

Starscream groaned and put a servo to his helm. "I need to lie down. I've been on my pedes all day."

Optimus swung an arm down beneath Starscream's knees and lifted him into the air. The Seeker gave an indignant squawk. 

Optimus nuzzled his mate and opened his mask to press a kiss to his lipplates. "I'll take care of Jolt and Joule. You rest."

"All right." Starscream sighed and rested his helm against Optimus's shoulder kibble as the convoy carried him towards their berthroom.

Optimus delicately laid the Seeker down in the berth and pulled a covering over him. He smiled and pressed a kiss to his forehelm. "Go to sleep and don't strain yourself."

Starscream muttered and rolled onto his side, wings folding down and back. He offlined his optics and Optimus took a moment to appreciate the slight mech. 

Starscream was smaller than most Seekers, which was obvious when he stood next to them, but his wide, stretching wings made him seem much larger. When folded and out of the way, he became a slender, slight mech. It belied his strength and emphasized his fragility. He was beautiful in his porcelain state and in his steel one, but it seemed that Optimus saw more of the porcelain Seeker of late and less of the steel. Especially since his seizure.

"I can feel you staring." Starscream spoke.

"Sorry. I was just... admiring." Optimus responded. 

"Oh, please do. But perhaps after you get Jolt and Joule their snack?" Starscream reminded his mate.

Optimus jumped. "I'll get them that right now." As he turned and left, he allowed an idle servo to come out and gently stroke Starscream from shoulder to pede.

Starscream muttered and wiggled, pressing back into the two digits.

Optimus smiled and hurried to the kitchen where Jolt and Joule's patience was swiftly running out.


	7. Sparklings

Jolt and Joule rushed to their Creator as soon as he entered the kitchen. "Please, may we have a cookie? Pleeeeeeaaaaassssssse?"

Optimus chuckled softly and nodded. "Of course. Let's see what your Carrier has made." He took down a pair of plates. "But just one treat a piece."

"But I want two cookies!" Jolt pouted.

"You can have one now and one later after dinner, but we have to save most of them for your sibling's tournament." Optimus reminded the two.

"Okay..." Jolt sighed and climbed up into his chair. 

Joule soon joined him and both wiggled as Optimus picked out a cookie for each of them and began putting away the others in tins. The energon icing had mostly dried by then.

Joule piped. "Why's Carrier so tired?"

"Your Carrier has a bad habit of taking too much on and needs to rest sometimes, that's all." Optimus smiled at the small Seekerlet, holding his cookie in both servos.

"Bellatrix said Carrier was sick and we need to be nice to him." Jolt piped.

Joule batted him with a servo. "She also said not to talk about it."

"She said not to tell CARRIER we knew."

Optimus sighed and pinched his nasal vent. "Don't argue, children, and Bellatrix doesn't always know what she's talking about." He would have to have words with the Seeker. "But she is right. You shouldn't say such things around your Carrier. It would upset him, especially when he's fine."

"See? Told you she was lying."

The twins finished their cookies and were ready for a nap. They fell asleep on the couch, bundled up in a throw, and Optimus settled into his chair to read a novel.


	8. Back Home

Starscream woke up just in time to go and pick up Rigel and Regulus from school. He and their neighbors had formed something like a carpool to escort their sparklings to and from the local school. In a bit of a rush, he ran out into the living room and was about to chew Optimus out for letting him sleep so long, but stopped when he saw how Optimus and the Sparklings were positioned.

The Prime was asleep, an open datapad to his newest novel on the floor beside his chair, and Jolt and Joule were curled up in the crook of his other arm. The blanket that normally laid across the back of the couch was covering them all. It was sweet and adorable and Starscream just shook his helm.

He rushed out the door and took to the air, flying through Autobot city and towards the school, a small building on the "Northern" side of the space station. 

Rigel and Regulus were occupied with a highly competitive game of freeze tag with the other sparklings. Starscream landed near the playground and folded his arms, smiling, and waiting for the children to notice that he was there. In a city full of grounders, he could be hard to miss. 

Starscream and Optimus were settled in Autobot City, partly because Optimus wouldn't have been able to live comfortably in New Vos and partly because their jobs were here in the grounder's space station. As Winglord, Starscream was fulfilling a diplomatic go-between role between New Vos and the Autobots, and the union between the two was cemented by his bonding to the Prime. The Prime had to be in Autobot City to fulfill his Executive functions, therefore Starscream had to be there.

Bellatrix had taken to New Vos and the University was located under the Seeker city's purview and protection, in spite of being earth-bound. It had been part of the agreements between the two. The seat of government was in Autobot City. To keep them from being separated and unevenly represented, the University was technically a part of the floating city which currently meandered a sort of patrol over the Pacific ocean. The University was on an island in the middle. 

Optimus missed his adult sparklings at the University. Bellatrix would be having her own tournament soon. Orion had never been one for organized sports. He played them casually, but didn't see the need to pursue them to the art form that his sister had. 

Starscream loved them both for their differences and looked forwards to when they would be coming home for the holiday.

At last, Rigel looked up from his running and spotted his Carrier. With a happy smile, he transformed into a little jet and flew to his Carrier, transforming and landing in his arms. "Carrier!"

"Hello, Rigel." Starscream hugged his little triple-changer and set him on his pedes, taking his servo. "Come along, all!" He called out. "Let's go home."

His small group flocked reluctantly to the Seeker. Regulus took his other servo reluctantly and they set off. It was much slower getting home in mech mode, but they soon made it back to their neighborhood. The other sparklings flooded out in different directions, racing to their homes and their Creator's calls. It was time for "after-school" cartoons, as the humans put them. 

Rigel and Regulus walked with Starscream to their own home and the Seeker dropped their servos. "Go wash your servos and you can have an energon cookie each before you start on your homework. Be quiet about it, Jolt and Joule are napping."

Rigel and Regulus shot each other looks and exaggeratedly began sneaking towards the washracks. Starscream rolled his optics at the two older Sparklings and walked into the kitchen, checking their supplies. They were running low on a few energon flavorings, metal supplements for the bitlets, a few other elements that made their meals more pleasant, and pectin, which was to be expected after a large project. He would have to go shopping before long. 

He could have sent Optimus, but the Prime could never understand comparing prices. He always grabbed the first box he saw, nevermind if it was a brand or not. Starscream had given up trying to make Optimus see the sense of it, but it was a tick of his that he felt no guilt about indulging. A few shanix saved here, a few stretched there, and they had a "nest egg" as the humans put it that grew by the vorn. 

Starscream's own savings from their vorns of running and trading had gone into Orion and Bellatrix's education as well as a fund for Rigel, Regulus, Jolt, and Joule when the time came. It seemed that University became more expensive every vorn. 

Starscream rested a servo on the countertop as he thought. He tried to avoid thinking when he was alone. It had a tendency to take him to melancholy places of late. He wanted another sparkling, another of Optimus's sparklings, while they still had time. He loved his triplets and the twins had stolen his spark since he had felt them pressing their sparklet against his own. He had had the luxury of seeing the twins in an ultrasound, something that he hadn't with either Orion or his triplets. It made them, not more special, but differently special. He had been frightened, worried, and attempting to steel himself to abandon Orion, and so had had difficulty with enjoying his gestation. With the triplets, he had been more calm, but always working hard and worrying over shanix and whether Megatron would come after them. 

With Jolt and Joule, he had been able to settle and enjoy their growth, even as they made him sick and wore him out, and he could barely see his pedes when he was standing. He had been able to cherish and share their movements and kicking. It had been an intimate knowledge of the two sparklings in his tank that inspired him and he loved both dearly since the first pulse of their conjoined spark.

He hadn't even recognized Orion as being a sparklet when he was conceived.

Starscream shook himself from his musings as his older sparklings entered the kitchen. Smiling, he pushed a plate with two energon cookies on it towards them and poured each a glass of mid-grade. "How was your day?"


	9. A Necessary Conversation

Starscream came out of the washracks with a polishing cloth tied around his cockpit like a sarong. His plating was still hot and steaming from the solvent.

Optimus hummed as Starscream laid beside him. "There you are. You were taking forever."

"I needed the relaxation." Starscream leaned on his shoulder and Optimus looped an arm around him. "And I want to talk to you about something."

"Indeed? What's weighing on you, Starscream?" 

Starscream rolled over onto his mate and snuggled in. "I want us to have another sparkling together."

Optimus stroked his wings. "Are you sure? You know Ratchet said that the stress of carrying could make your condition deteriorate much faster."

"Which is why I want to have a sparkling while I'm healthy enough that it would reach term, Optimus." Starscream smiled. "I want us to have one that we were able to enjoy from the creation to birth." 

"We don't have to, Starscream. I love our sparklings, and I love you, and I want you to be here for as long as possible." Optimus hugged him close. 

"There's only a chance that I would deteriorate, Optimus, and that chance will increase the longer we wait and allow it to progress." Starscream sighed, closing his optics. "We're all going to die someday. I want to die feeling complete and I- I just-" He began to cry. "I just feel like our family won't be complete if we don't have another together. Megatron took so much from me, from us, and I- I want another chance at that."

Optimus began petting his wings gently. "Shhh... Starscream, shh..." The Prime kissed his helm and held him close. "We'll talk more about this tomorrow night, but for now let's just rest. If you really think we need to have another, we will. I want you to be happy."

"I want you to be happy, too, Optimus." Starscream curled close. "I wish- I wish-"

"I know. No one should face this choice, Starscream." Optimus reached over his mate and turned off the lamp. Then, the Prime stroked Starscream's wings and purred his engines until the Seeker fell asleep.


	10. Soccer Carrier

Starscream packed the tournament treats into a cooler along with several containers of energon. Pouring ice over the lot, he sealed up the container and put it beside the door. The soccer fields were on a level beneath the rest of Autobot city, though the artificial gravity was reversed. The Space Station itself was elliptical in shape and two-sided. The bottom side, facing towards the Earth, was the urban side and the city proper was built on it. On the opposite side were gardens with earth and cybertron plants alike and, of course, fields for sparklings to play sports.

"Optimus? I need you to bring around your trailer." Starscream called to the convoy as he hauled out folding chairs from the hall closet. 

"Starscream, it's five in the morning, chill." Optimus groaned back.

"Fine. I'll bring around your trailer." Starscream rolled his optics as he went into the "garage" to bring around the convoy's trailer.

Starscream finished packing, made breakfast for the family, and settled into the couch to watch human cooking shows- which were oddly entertaining, especially "Good Eats"- and to work on a crochet project out of a book, muttering curse words under his breath as everything that could go wrong with it did. 

Ratchet had recommended crochet as a stress reducer. First Aid had leant Starscream the book of projects and Starscream was trying to master cabling.

"Triple, double-double, single, triple..." He muttered to himself.

At about seven, Optimus dragged himself out of berth and came into the living room. Dropping down beside Starscream, he blinked at the television for a long moment. "How can you be so productive in the mornings?"

"Magic." Starscream flipped the end of the crocheting over Optimus's optics. "I sweat to Primus, I'm following the pattern, but I'll swan- it doesn't look anything like the picture."

"Maybe it needs to rest...?" Optimus questioned, lifting the end up and flipping it back.

"It's not a Dacquoise, Optimus." Starscream replied.

Rigel wandered out of his berthroom and snuggled into his Creator. With the sparkling in the room, the channel mysteriously changed from "Yan Can Cook" to "SpongeBob Squarepants."

The obnoxious sound of cartoons acted as a magnetic force and soon Regulus and the twins were all on the couch, watching as well.

When the episode ended, they sat down and had breakfast together.

"You have your shin guards?" Starscream asked Rigel and Regulus.

"Yes, Carrier." They nodded.

"And your strap-on cleets?"

"Yes, Carrier."

"And your team bands?"

"Yes Carrier." They showed him the green bands with a '7' and '13' on them. 

"And-"

"Starscream, let them eat, honey. They have everything and I'll double-check after breakfast." Optimus soothed the Seeker.

"This from the person who forgot the magnesium for a magsulfate cocktail."

Optimus's optics twinkled. "This from the person who put iron shavings into a steel bottle and didn't label them."

Starscream had to snort. "Okay, yes, that was funny."

They shared a laugh at the memory of the mixed-up ingredients and Rigel and Regulus cleared the table.


	11. Soccer Game

Starscream was administering first aid to a bruised knee. The warm sun beat down on them all, powering their station and heating the playing Sparklings up quickly. 

Wheeljack and Brainstorm had had a wonderful idea and had brought a plastic kiddie pool and filled it with ice. When a sparkling was hot, they jumped into the little pool and rolled about or picked up servofuls and tried to lodge them in other's plating.

Starscream had a careful optic on Rigel. His little Spark-Attack still had a fluctuating spark and a lot of physical exercise and heat could give him "flutters."

The last thing Starscream wanted was for his little Spark-Attack to have one.

The Praxian sparkling hobbled off with Starscream's makeshift cold pack pressed to its knee and Starscream straightened up, pressing his hands to his hips and watching the play.

"Hustle it, Regulus! Don't let them get past you!" Optimus called across the field. A lot of the parents were shouting, but the Prime's calling generally surprised the others in attendance because he was normally so quiet and collected.

Starscream wasn't surprised, though he had been a little surprised when Optimus sang in his hearing range for the first time. His smile became a little dopey.

Regulus scrambled for the ball and picked it up, drop-kicking it halfway across the field. Rigel took the ball and raced for the red team's goalie. The red team was the second that the green team had played in the semifinals and in order to make it to the finals tomorrow, they had to beat them. 

Rigel was a surprisingly aggressive midfielder. It seemed his quiet nature was hiding the spark of a turbofox and the processor of an agent. it wasn't entirely surprising, since Rigel was learning to give his Creators a run for their money in chess. 

Rigel dodged the opposing team's defenders and went in for the goal. Just before he arrived, he back-kicked the ball to his other midfielder and the second mech, a convoy like Optimus, took it in for the goal.

Starscream grinned and cheered, of course, as did the other parents from the green team. When Rigel came in, he had his bottle of cold energon ready. "How do you feel, Rigel?" He softly spoke to the young one.

"Fine, Carrier." Rigel smiled at the Seeker and sipped the offered energon. "I might go for an ice bath as soon as the game is over, though."

"I agree." Starscream hugged him. "Now go out and knock them dead! That means you too, Regulus. You're playing so well today."

"Coach helped me with holding back, Carrier." Regulus explained, grinning. "I'm not scared of hurting people as much."

"That's very good. Now get out there and secure your spots for the finals!" Starscream pumped his fist in the air and the two mechs ran back out onto the field for the last half of the last quarter.

Optimus kissed Starscream's helm. "Why don't you dip your pedes in that ice bath, Star? You've been running around helping out all game. I'm surprised you haven't dropped from exhaustion."

"You're a worrier. I'm not missing this!" Starscream turned his optics back to the field where the two teams were arranged for the kick. 

"Then sit down at least, Star. Rigel isn't the only one in danger of over-heating." Optimus pushed the Seeker's chair into a better spot.

Starscream sat reluctantly and watched as the game commenced.

Rigel and Regulus worked together to bring the pressure off of the defense, some of whom were flagging, and the triple-changer took the ball back to the goal for another score, this time on his own glory, so to speak. This tied up the match at 6-6. 

Starscream was ready to start biting his claws when Rigel went in, without taking a break, for another go. Time was ticking down and the players were tired, but persevering. 

Rigel and the two offenders began using a triangle pattern of kicks, bringing the ball closer and farther from the goal as needed. Suddenly, Rigel hared back his leg as far as it could go and released a hammer-kick that sent the ball flying over the goalies head and into the net with an audible snap- just as the referee blew the game-over.

The parents erupted into cheers. The green team was going on to the Finals. Starscream and Optimus applauded, on their pedes as their sparklings disappeared from view in the crush. 

The green team swarmed Rigel, hugging him from all angles. Overheated plating touching each other and pressure making it hard to vent. Rigel was grinning so hard he felt like his faceplates would split and he could hardly vent, he was so elated. His chestplates hurt as if his spark wanted to burst out of his chest and he-

His spark!

Starscream cried out when he saw Rigel begin to struggle and raced forwards, pushing through the team like a mech possessed to get to his sparkling.

Rigel was burning to the touch when he reached the small triple-changer, collapsing as his teammates drew back from his small form. Starscream gathered him up into his arms and ran to Wheeljack's ice pool. While Optimus called for Ratchet, someone brought out a pair of emergency spark-support cables.

Starscream clipped the cables to his own spark and connected them to Rigel's without a second thought. His own, brilliant spark pulsed constantly, but quickly as he buried Rigel to the neck in the ice, hoping to bring his temperature down. Rigel's vents stuttered as his frame desperately tried to support itself. Optimus knelt beside Starscream and began manually forcing Rigel's vents to work with quick, circular motions of his servos.

When Ratchet and First Aid, the inventor of the spark support cables, arrived, Starscream clutched Optimus's arm as they loaded his child into Ratchet. 

Optimus put an arm around Starscream and one around Regulus while Jolt and Joule clutched at his pedes. He began murmuring to the Seeker. "Primus, spare the sparkling you have seen fit..."

Optimus's voice soothed Starscream's spark, but he needed to follow Ratchet to the hospital. Gently shaking Optimus off, he took to the air, flying over Ratchet and racing back towards the medical center.


	12. Sick Bed

Starscream began feeling the seizure pressure building in his neck cables about a human mile before they reached the hospital. He landed as Ratchet and First Aid sped in and began treating his child within the ICU. He had to get there to make sure Rigel was safe.

His limbs began to tremble and feel weak as he urged them on. A half a mile. A quarter. The speedster- Blurr- rushed over and babbled at him. Normally, Starscream understood Blurr perfectly in spite of the speed he spoke at, but now every sound was merging. He didn't have long.

Blurr gripped his arm and pulled forwards, guiding him into the hospital and jabbering at the nurse, who jabbered back. Starscream let his legs give out beneath him and he sort of flopped to the side and into the arms of a nearby chair.

His processor ached and his limbs seized in actions he could not control. He felt his fans sputter and his optics flickered.

Then it was dark.


	13. Hospital Visit

Optimus held Starscream's servo in his left and Rigel's in his right. The tiny triple changer had asked to be moved to his Carrier's room as soon as he regained consciousness. If it weren't for the menagerie of wires sticking out of both of Starscream's arms, he would want to be cuddled up to his Carrier's side. 

Regulus, Bellatrix, and Orion crept into the small, pale hospital room. Regulus was clutching a soccer trophy in his arms while Orion and Bellatrix were carrying a huge floral arangement and a basket that Starscream kept for picnics. Jolt and Joule came in last, each carrying a small box of some delicious treat Starscream had had in the freezer or Bellatrix had put together.

"We won." Regulus told Rigel, putting the trophy beside him.

Rigel smiled softly. "I told you- If we beat the red team, we could beat the purple one."

"I wish you had been able to see it. It was awesome." Regulus stroked Rigel's blue hospital blanket and looked at the bracelet on his wrist.

"We got a video." Orion showed Rigel the chip. "We'll see it after you and Carrier come home."

Optimus looked up at his son. Orion and Bellatrix had come home early after getting permission from their professors to take their Final Exams early. They had intended to surprise Starscream, but had come home to find Optimus packing an overnight bag with Rigel's datapads and Starscream's crochet and scrambling for a babysitter for Jolt, Joule, and Regulus.

The oldest sparkling and Bellatrix had been a Primus-sent blessing. 

Jolt and Joule scrambled at Starscream's bed, trying to climb up.

"Be careful." Optimus warned both sparklings. "If we jump around, we might hurt Carrier." He took them both around the waist and gently lifted the gold and black sparklings up onto the hospital bed.

Jolt and Joule nodded soberly and patted Starscream's cockpit, peeping and chirping in Seeker language. Starscream didn't so much as shift. The attack had been severe.

A sharp series of slow beeps came from the monitors surrounding the Seeker and triple changer. It had been Optimus's lullaby the previous night as he hovered over his delicate sparkling and porcelain mate. He had fallen asleep with his helm resting on Starscream's berth and the spark monitors ringing in his optics. 

Orion pushed over a pair of chairs and the adult sparklings sat down. Bellatrix pulled over the basket and opened it, passing out plates and picnic food, processed things that Starscream would never have bought in a thousand vorns. Optimus opened his mask and ate without tasting. "Thank you, Bellatrix."

Rigel ate hungrily and with gusto. His dinner the previous night had been medgrade energon, bland and flavorless. Starscream had an energon drip in his elbow joint as well as several other fluid drips: Coolant and oil as well as medicinal. 

Optimus stroked Starscream's wing. He was so... helpless looking. It wasn't something he liked to see.

Starscream's vents cycled particularly deeply, the breath mask shifting with the motion. 

Rigel reached over and patted Optimus's shoulder kibble. "Carrier will be fine. He's a fighter, Creator."

Orion nodded. He had taken up a position on Starscream's opposite side and was stroking his Carrier's servo. 

Jolt and Joule quickly became restless and would have become rambunctious quickly if Bellatrix hadn't handed them each an energon rose from the arrangement. The two younger sparkling's innocence was charming and frustrating at the same time. Of course, they didn't understand. Didn't realize that there was always the risk, each time he had a new fit, that their Carrier might not wake up.

Optimus wondered what he'd do if Starscream never woke. If they had to leave the Seeker here, or even move him home, with tubes and wires still sticking out of every joint and seam, what would happen. What would happen to their sparklings? How could they adjust to losing their homemaking parent? He would have to find someone to watch the twins during the day cycle. He had faith that if the worst happened, Regulus and Rigel would step up. They were old enough that they didn't need to be watched over and looked after 24/7 and could help with their household. Perhaps Optimus would finally retire, start working part time at something or take up a desk job with fewer responsibilities so he could spend more time at home. 

Primus, he was the weak link here! Starscream had never managed to teach him to prepare energon, in spite of a lot of attempts, and he constantly criticized any attempt to do the shopping. It didn't sting because Starscream was perfectly willing to do the things he couldn't and he was genuinely better at it. 

Orion would be devastated. He wasn't close to Optimus at all. The oldest sparkling might drift away from the rest of their family and everything would go to-

Bellatrix tapped a servo on his antenea. "Creator, I think you've spent enough time in this room. You're getting that 'If I think any harder, I'm going to have an aneurysm' look."

"There's a look?" Optimus turned to the purple and black Seeker, grateful. 

"Yep and it's right on your faceplates. Maybe you should go for a drive or something, wear the scaps out so they can take a nap in here." 

Optimus looked over at Jolt and Joule and nodded. "Come on, bitlets. Let's go for a flight."

The twins squealed in delight and jumped down off of the berth, following their Creator out.


	14. Oldest Siblings

The four "original" sparklings all exchanged glances as soon as their step-creator and the small twins were out of the room.

Rigel's smile crested into a guilty frown. "I'm so sorry. I should have taken a break before the last kick. Then I wouldn't have had flutters."

"It's nothing to worry about." Bellatrix smoothed a servo over his helm. "Carrier will be fine. He always is."

Orion agreed. "Besides, you couldn't have known you'd have had a flutter after that. You were having fun and one of the adult mechs should have reminded you to take a break. It's not something you can be blamed for. I'm just glad you're both going to pull through."

Regulus scrabbled up onto Starscream's berth and found a carefully chosen position against his Carrier's side. He purred his large engines softly. "Wake up soon, Carrier. We miss you." 

Orion stroked his helm as well and he and Bellatrix looked at each other over their Carrier's prone form. "Well, this is an auspicious way to start our holiday."

Bellatrix nodded firmly, determined to find a bright side of all this. "At least our professors allowed us to take finals early. If they hadn't, maybe Creator wouldn't have been able to find a babysitter for Jolt and Joule and wouldn't have been here."

Rigel shivered and drew his knees up to his cockpit. "It was scary when I woke up without Carrier. It would have been so much worse without Creator there as well."

"Did you have to pitch a fit to get them to put you two into a room together?" Orion questioned.

"No, Creator just asked the grumpy mech." Rigel responded. "Ratchet."

"I see. Friends in high places, as usual." Orion sneered.

"You hush. Without his friends in high places, Rigel would have to be in his own room all alone. I think it's great to have such an influential Creator." Bellatrix countered her older brother.

"He's not my Creator." Orion muttered. "He's my Sire, but that's it."

Regulus whimpered and nuzzled a little closer to Starscream. As he did, he felt a soft servo stroking his cannon barrel on his back and he tensed up. "Guys-"

"Not now, Regulus." Bellatrix hushed him. "Creator is a good mech, Orion. I know you two have a bad history, but don't you think that it's time to put it all aside? I mean, it's been vorns and you're still so bitter."

"You don't remember that night, Bellatrix. You were way too small." Orion argued back. "It was terrible, Bella, and it didn't end then. Carrier was spark broken and I can't forgive that as easily as you seem to be able to."

"Well, then can you at least fake it a little better around us because-"

"BELLA!" Regulus screeched.

"Yes, what is it, Regulus, don't shout!" Bellatrix and Orion turned to their younger brother. 

A soft, breath chuckle sounded out through the room. "It's nice to see you all so happy, healthy, and getting along so well." Starscream smiled at his sparklings. 

"Carrier!" They exclaimed and dived the Seeker, embracing him in a four way hug as Rigel leapt out of his berth and climbed up as well.

"Hello, babies." Starscream pushed himself up against the berth. "Where's Jolt and Joule and your Creator? I expected them to be here as well."

"You know Creator. He was thinking his way to a processor crash, so I sent him out on a drive." Bellatrix smiled. "He'll be thrilled to find out that you're awake. I'll comm him now."

"Do that, thank you, Bellatrix." Starscream smiled at Orion. "You're here early."

"We were going to surprise you, Carrier."

"Carrier! Carrier!" Regulus ran over to the table and hauled the trophy over. "We won!"

"You did? I knew it! Come here, sweetspark." He hugged his little tank and examined the trophy while Bellatrix commed Optimus to come back to the hospital ASAP.


	15. Homecoming

Optimus carried Starscream back into their home, fussing all the while, and set him in a soft chair to rest while he and the children made dinner. It was such a relief to have the Seeker back in his pride of place.

Orion and Optimus avoided speaking to each other any more than they had to.

Bellatrix made up for their silence with her chatter and happy bustle. 

Rigel cuddled into his Carrier's arm and quietly hugged him. Regulus played with construction blocks near his pedes.

Starscream rested and hummed to his sparklings, smiling softly.


	16. The Nightmare

The sound of Jolt and Joule crying burrowed its way into Starscream's processor. He woke slowly and pushed himself into a sitting position, rolling off of Optimus. His wings flicked, teeking the air as the sounds of distress registered. 

Optimus caught him by the waist before he could rise. "I'll take care of them. You just recharge."

Starscream laid back reluctantly. "All right. Thank you, Optimus."

Optimus kissed the Seeker's forehelm. "I'll be right back." The convoy moved out, walking down the hall to the open door to Jolt and Joule's room. Their other sparklings were still asleep.

Optimus found the light switch in the twin's room and slowly turned the light up so that everything was visible, but it didn't grate on their optics. He found a quivering pile of blankets in the middle of the floor and the Seekerlet's peeping and whimpers were coming from it.

Optimus pulled the blanket off gently. "Jolt? Joule? Did you fall out of bed?" He wrapped the soft blue blanket around the golden sparklings and pulled them to his windshield.

Jolt and Joule were hugging each other, wings folded and shivering. "Creator?... Nightmare..."

"A nightmare?" Optimus sat on their small berth and hugged the sparklings close. "What was it about?"

"Carrier went away." Jolt sobbed, rubbing his little face into Optimus's windshield.

"We yelled, but he didn't come back." Joule chimed in, hiding his faceplates in his Creator's shoulder.

Optimus rubbed their backs and comforted them. "Carrier isn't going away, bitlets. He'll be with us for a long time yet."

"But he IS sick!" Jolt sobbed. "And he had to go to the white building and stay there!"

"So did Rigel, but he's not going to go away either." Optimus replied. "Don't worry, little ones."

Jolt and Joule hugged his neckcables and cried themselves back to recharge while Optimus hummed to them.

He returned to his berthroom to find Starscream lying awake.

"What was it, Optimus?"

"They had a nightmare and fell out of berth." Optimus kissed his mate on the lipplates and lay down beside him.

"A nightmare?"

"Apparently, they fluxed about you leaving." Optimus explained.

"I see. Makes sense after seeing me in the hospital like that." Starscream nodded. 

"It's enough to give me nightmares." Optimus threw an arm around his Seeker and tried to settle in for some more, badly needed recharge.

Starscream hugged him back and climbed on top of Optimus, purring his engines.


	17. Pharma

Pharma's servos trembled as he knelt before Tarn. "Master... What is your pleasure this cycle?"

Tarn's servos stroked over the submissive Seeker's chevron. It had taken many cycles and a great deal of tactics, but the once-formidable medic was at last his obedient slave.

Of course, he couldn't take all the credit. Prowl's own assignments had played a major part in the mess that Tarn had first greeted at Messatine. The Seeker, isolated from his kin, frequently grounded by severe storms, and otherwise neglected, had been driven to the brink of insanity and Tarn had tipped him over.

At first, he hadn't been particularly interested in the pretty medic other than as a supplier of T-cogs, but he soon realized that Pharma had so much more potential for him.

"I think I'd like you to start out by pleasuring yourself, Pharma. Do put on a good show." Tarn leaned back in his chair with his cube of high grade in hand. 

Pharma's servos started at his knees, creeping up his thighs towards his modesty panel, kneeding his plating with care.

Tarn smiled, sipping the high grade through his mask's slot. "Very good." He purred with his deep voice, making Pharma moan softly.


	18. Welcome, Happy Morning

The morning broke over Autobot City to find a Seeker soaring through the small sphere. Bellatrix was taking in the freedom of the wing before her Creators woke.

It could be suffocating, being in her parent's home. It wasn't that she didn't love her Creators, but she got tired of them sometimes. Most of the time, she got tired of them very quickly.

It didn't help that Carrier was...

Primus, why was it so hard even to think?

...dying.

She sighed and landed on top of the archive, sitting down on the edge of the roof and watching the sun rise.

Was this how it felt for others to face the loss of a parent? To old age or in the war?

Perhaps it was worse because she could see it coming, like a collision one couldn't prevent.

Or maybe it was better because she could treasure every moment.

With that in processor, Bellatrix dropped off of the archive and flew for home.

If she knew her Carrier, he would be waking up about now.


	19. Morning

Optimus and Orion were doing the dishes. Starscream watched them with care as they set the energon vessels in the cleaner. On the surface, all seemed well.

But Starscream had always been able to read electromagnetic fields better than any other and he could sense the tension like a tangible force.

He rubbed his left shoulder and pretended to be drinking his low-grade.

At least they weren't biting each other's heads off anymore.

He sighed and laid his servo on the table. Bellatrix slipped up beside him and the powerful scent of a Titan Arum filled his nasal vents. "Carrier? I brought your favorite."

"Wheeljack's Roses are my favorite, not Titan Arum, Bellatrix, but thank you." Starscream took the delicate flower from his daughter. "Thank you."

Bellatrix kissed his helm. "You're welcome." She stepped over to where Optimus and Orion were working. "All right, clear off. I got it."

Orion gratefully gave his place up and went into the living room.

Starscream sighed as tension seemed to bleed from the room, lifting a weight off of his wings.


	20. Blow Up

It started out so small. But then, even titans were sparklings at some point.

Orion had a habit of... checking things. Well, double and triple checking them really. Perhaps it came from having Rigel and Regulus for brothers, Starscream had no idea.

Either way, he had become almost paranoid over things. It all had to be in a certain order and fashion or the triple changer wasn't happy.

Optimus, on the other hand, didn't mind things being left for a moment if something was more pressing and neither did Starscream.

It was an adjustment that didn't seem like it could blow up.

It did, massively.


	21. Aftermath

Optimus was recharging on the couch after the fight he and Orion had had earlier had nearly sent Starscream into another seizure. It was only the Seeker's overworking vents and tremors that had stopped them when they got going.

Orion was out and about in Autobot City and who knew where he was.

Starscream lay alone in the dark and counted sparkbeats. It felt as if his spark was going to burst through his cockpit and his tanks were churning in spite of the fact that he had purged most of his dinner.

Sometimes, he felt so terribly mortal and delicate. Optimus thought so too. Starscream saw his mate casting glances over him, fearful glances with fearful optics. Wondering about him. How he was doing, whether he would break in the next moment. He hated it. He hated the look of fear mixed with longing and love. He wanted to see Optimus's confidence again. Wanted the convoy to think of the invincible Seeker, not this fragile shell.

He wanted to be fixed, even if it wasn't possible.


	22. Time Off

Hey guys,

I'm taking some time off from AO3. There might be an update for Awakening soon, but I just need a break.

Sorry.


End file.
